


Deja Vu

by erenmin



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Kinda, Post-Canon, major spoilers for ep 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 06:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18543922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erenmin/pseuds/erenmin
Summary: When AJ finally got him and Clementine back to Ericson and the aftermath, in Louis's eyes.





	Deja Vu

Louis couldn’t focus on anything. He hadn’t been able to focus on anything since he got back to Ericson and he realized that Clem and AJ hadn’t arrived before he did. Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t stay still, not even long enough to try and play piano like he did whenever he felt any kind of negative emotion. He was too filled with worry, and dread for what may have been their fate. 

Hours passed, and still no sign. Louis had just about lost any sanity he had left, finally having time to fully process and start grieving Tenn and even Minnie. He paced and paced in the piano room, never failing to spot the heart around his and Clem’s initials each time he passed the piano. 

“You’re starting to make me dizzy with all that pacing around,” Violet leaned against the doorway, and crossed her arms. 

“You’re starting to drive me crazy with your inappropriately timed and horrendously unfunny jokes.”

“Joking’s more your thing, so.”

Louis stopped with the piano in his peripheral vision, then averted his glance to Violet. “Vi, we have to go looking for them. I got back here in an hour from the bridge. It shouldn’t be taking them this long. Fuck, fuck!” 

Violet started to enter the room, her movement slow as to not startle Louis.

“We were surrounded by all those walkers and she told me to run. She said they’d find a way out,” Louis shook his head. “And I ran. Because I believed her because she’s so damn strong. But what if they got too outnumbered and overpowered? What if I had just climbed back over that fence and gotten them both back here with me or I would’ve done something to make sure they got back here, even if it meant leaving me behind?”

“Lou, none of this is your fault. Clementine is the strongest person any of has ever met, and AJ is the most capable little boy we’ve ever met. They probably just had to hide out and lay low and wait for an opening.” The possibility was somewhat comforting, but only for a second. 

“But what if they’re not hiding out, Vi? What if something happened and I could’ve been there to stop it? I can’t let them die knowing I could’ve done something, after having to watch Tenn just be gunned down?” Violet flinched and stepped back, taken aback by that last comment and the setting realization of Tenn’s demise.

“Lou-”

“Vi? Louis? Get out here! It’s Clem and AJ!” Ruby ran into the room, a strained look on her face. 

Louis didn’t wait another second and bolted past Violet and Ruby and through the schoolyard, the first one through the gates. He stopped in his tracks once he caught sight an exhausted AJ leaning on the wheelbarrow he had presumably been pushing, and Clem passed out in the wheelbarrow, missing a leg. 

Holy shit, what happened to her leg? 

“Louis,” AJ snapped Louis out of his thoughts and started to collapse, Louis running up and catching AJ before he could hit the ground. 

“AJ! Oh my god, what happened?” Louis hugged AJ and ignored the walker blood smearing onto his clothes, trying to keep him upright. 

“Please, help Clem.” AJ lifted his hand and pointed at the body in the wheelbarrow. Louis looked over at Clem, who was also covered in walker blood and looked concernedly pale, hadn’t moved once. 

“Shit,” Louis looked around and spotted Ruby and Violet finally catching up, then stopped like Louis did earlier to take in the situation themselves. “Can you stand up by yourself, little dude?” AJ nodded and gently pushed himself off Louis, letting Louis attend to Clem.

“Let’s get her inside and get a look at her.” Ruby said as Louis scooped her up into his arms and rushed her into the school with AJ right on his heels. He couldn’t help but feel a moment of deja vu, Clem in his arms taking him back to when he was carrying AJ in weeks ago after he had been shot. And before, when Marlon first found them in the wrecked car and Louis carried her in, Marlon holding AJ. 

Louis placed Clem on the sofa outside the office, everyone surrounding her at once. Ruby pushed through everyone and kneeled down by Clem, ready to take care of her.

“Give the girl some space. Vi, you stay to help.” Ruby insisted, waving everyone else off. 

“No, I wanna stay! Let me help!” AJ protested, staying in his spot at the other end of the sofa. Louis started to come up behind AJ to put his hand on his shoulder, then thought better of himself and instead slightly looping around to walk up to the side of AJ as to not startle him and set him off anymore. 

“Don’t worry AJ, we’ve got her now. You already did all you could.” Violet tried to reassure him, taking a pleading look at Louis for help before Ruby thankfully interjected.

“You really did, hun. She’s not bleeding, but I need to clean up her a bit and dress the wound. Go with Louis for a bit and I promise I’ll come get ya as soon as I’m done.”

AJ looked like he wanted to argue, but stopped himself when he saw Louis kneel down to his level and put a hand on his shoulder and giving him a reassuring look. 

“I wanna talk to you a bit anyway,” Louis added. “We won’t go too far, let’s just go to the bottom of the stairs, okay?”

AJ followed Louis to the top of the bottom set of stairs, both of them sitting down side by side. 

“So, are you okay? Any bites?” 

“No, just Clem.” AJ looked in her direction. “But it’s gone now. That’s why her leg is gone.”

“When did she get bit?” 

“Right after you left. We were trying to climb up a ledge and a monster got her foot while I was pulling her up. We walked for a little bit and found James’s barn where we hid out in and I had to kill a bunch of monsters before I could do anything for her.”

Louis’s heart sank, he knew that sunken feeling he got as soon as they were out of sight was for good reason. He couldn’t imagine how scared AJ felt during that time, having to defend himself and Clem at the same time without any help. 

“She wanted me to kill her,” that snapped Louis out of digging himself into an inescapable hole of guilt, but that sentence sure did turn that hole into a bottomless pit. AJ looked at Louis sadly, then decided to elaborate. “Lee had tried to cut his arm off when he got bit but it didn’t work for him. I guess she thought it wouldn’t work for her. I don’t know if it worked for her. What if she still turns into a monster, Louis? I didn’t do what she asked and I just make her turn when that’s not what she wants.”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself for any of this, AJ.” Louis sat up slightly, ready to do any amount of convincing to make sure AJ knew nothing that happened was his fault. “You’re both here safe and sound, and that’s all that matters right now. If anything, I could have done more to protect you guys, I should’ve climbed back over the fence to help you both get home safely.”

“But then you would’ve jumped right into that herd of monsters and I would’ve lost both you and Tenn.” AJ whispered, then looked down. Louis felt his face drop, a frown appearing at the mention of Tenn.

“Maybe. But if that meant distracting them while you and Clem climbed up that ledge unharmed, then I would’ve done it a thousand times over.” Louis looked at AJ, who then suddenly wrapped his arms around Louis’s waist, shaking with his tears.

Louis hugged AJ back immediately, trying to make him feel safe and secure in his arms as the little boy wept for Clementine and his friend. Sometimes, Louis honestly forgot that AJ was just a tot. He acted older than most of the others kids at times, but it was what he had to do to stay alive this long with Clem. He couldn’t imagine having to go through this at such a young age, to be born into this kind of world. A kid this young shouldn’t have to be so strong, so independent, so grown up. It shouldn’t be so weird that he was crying right now rather than normally seeing him lash out. 

Louis just held AJ in his arms until the crying stopped, and stayed with him like that until Ruby finally finished and came to get them.

“Hey,” she squatted behind them, making them pull away from each other to look at her. “She’s gonna be okay. She doesn’t seem to be infected, just some blood loss and that leg is gonna keep her in bed for a couple weeks. Lou, would you mind taking her to room before she wakes up?”

Louis nodded and quickly stood up, fetching to get Clem with AJ right behind him as they made their way to Clem and AJ’s shared room. Louis gently laid her on the bed and took an extra pillow to elevate Clem’s stump, remembering how Ruby had her resting before moving her. AJ pulled up the chair from the desk to the bed for Louis, as he sat down at the foot of the bed. Louis gave a small smile of gratitude to AJ as he sat down, both ready to wait for however long it took for Clem to wake up.

“You did good, kid.” Louis put a thumbs up at AJ, earning a small smile form the boy. 

“Yeah, maybe I should not listen to her less often.” AJ said, making Louis burst out into laughter at AJ’s seriousness in the thought. AJ still had some of the oblivion and naivety of a child at times, and it made him that much more endearing to Louis and everyone else at the school. Probably why Clem loves him so damn much. Probably why Louis was starting to love him so damn much. 

Louis stopped laughing when he saw Clem start to stir, AJ jumping off the bed and beside Louis to get a better look at her face. She slowly but surely came to and looked around, taking in her surroundings. 

“Lou? AJ?” she looked at them, her facial features softening at the sight of them. She seemed to almost be in disbelief that she was seeing them, as if she was meant to be seeing something else or be somewhere else. “Where are we?”

“We’re back at the school,” Louis answered, a small smile forming on his lips as a wave of relief rushed over him. 

“But how? I was bit, I couldn’t walk. AJ and I were in a barn and I was dying.”

“I used the wheelbarrow to push you back after I cut off your leg and killed all those monsters surrounding the barn. There were so many of them, Clem.”

“My leg?” Clem sat herself up slightly to get a better look at her lower half and her breath hitched, finding what she was looking for. Her left leg from the knee down was gone. “Oh my god.”

Louis thought she looked like she was about to have a panic attack. He knew she wouldn’t want AJ seeing her like this, it would freak him out. “Hey little dude, can you go get some water for Clem real quick?”

AJ looked apprehensive to leave at first, sensing Clem’s panic, but agreed nonetheless and ran out. 

“Hey, hey it’s gonna be okay. You’re fine, you’re safe, you’re not bitten.” Louis gently took her hand, rubbing circles on the back of it with his thumb.

“My leg is gone. I can’t walk anymore, I can’t run if I need to, I can’t even slow down walkers. Lou, I can’t survive like this. I can’t protect AJ like this.”

“Clem, you’ve done such an amazing job with AJ, I think that kid could easily protect all of us at the same time and still be able to play with his weird Disco Broccoli toys at the same time.”

“Not the time, Louis.” Clem warned, giving him a stern look. “I’ve been running for so long, having only myself to depend on. What if I lose you again like earlier? Look what happened then.”

“You had AJ. He protected you and got the both of you here safe and sound. Clem, things are different now. You have a whole family behind you that’s not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere ever again.”

“I can’t just depend on others like this. I just can’t.”

“Clem, please. You’ve had to be so strong for so long, you’ve protected us for so long. You can’t keep trying to make yourself a martyr and not expect anything else in return. Please, let us take care of you now. Let AJ take care of you, let me take care of you and protect you. Let everyone else protect you. You’ve done so much for us, let us do this for you from now on. You kinda have to now.” 

Clem looked away from Louis, a frustrated look on her face. Louis put his other hand on her face, turning it to face his. He gave her a small smile and he could see it break her down a bit as she reciprocated a small one of her own. 

“Okay.”

Louis helped her fully sit up, then engulfed Clem in a hug. He felt her arms wrap around his torso almost immediately, along with her head laying on his chest. 

“Thought I lost you again.”

Clem pulled herself away and looked up at him again, a soft smile on her face. “Only for a minute.”

“Longest damn minute of my life.”


End file.
